


Yellow After The Rain

by turtleduckanarchy



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, Modern AU, ymir isn't as smooth as she thinks she is, yumikuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:31:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9505487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtleduckanarchy/pseuds/turtleduckanarchy
Summary: I kind of learned this solo a month and a half ago and afterwards forgot about it, and now I have to perform in an hour and half.  I'm crying because this is practically impossible, but it's fine.  I'm fine.  Thanks for asking.





	

Historia was crying in front of the marimba closest to the warm-up room’s doors.  No one was really paying attention, as they were all busy with their own stuff they were doing, and she was glad for that.  Some of the kids were playing the same piece that she was supposed to play in…how many minutes?  She looked at the clock.

She had an hour and a half left until she was supposed to play.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if she’d just remembered about the solo, but through the chaos of finals and then break, it had slipped her mind.  She’d gotten in down fairly well in the beginning, back when she had remembered about the piece.  Of course, that was a month and a half ago, and now she couldn’t een bring herself to try.

She just couldn’t get it.  Her hands were hurting, and she wished she had brought some band aids, just to put on her blisters.  The mallets were digging into her skin, and she could barely play the first thirty bars without stopping and realizing that this was impossible.  She just had to forget about it, didn’t she?  She just had to forget and not practice and be too proud to admit that she’d forgotten. 

If she had just came clean and said, “I forgot”.  She could’ve gotten out of it.  But she didn’t.  She had told the people who asked her about it that she was ready, and no doubt, she’d get a great score.  That had been the day before, and she had lied to their faces. 

“Hey, yo.  Are you okay?”  Historia looked from the marimba, hoping that maybe it wasn’t obvious that she was crying. 

“I’m just a little stressed is all.  It’s fine.  I’m fine.  Thanks for asking.”

Liar.  It was more like, “I kind of learned this solo a month and a half ago and afterwards forgot about it, and now I have to perform in an hour and half.  I'm crying because this is practically impossible, but it's fine.  I'm fine.  Thanks for asking.”  And even that would be a lie, because Historia was clearly not fine. 

“Whatcha workin’ on?”  The stranger turned Historia’s stand around and looked at her music.  “Oh man, it’s this one.  It’s really pretty.”

“Not with me playing it.”

“Can’t be that bad.  Just give it a shot.”

“I can’t.”

“Okay, well.  I could probably help.  I’d still have to get the comments papers from Annie, but I can totally help with this.”

“Oh yeah?  Good luck.  It’s hopeless.”

“Listen sweetheart, you’re talking to a girl who got gold on this exact piece three hours ago.”

“Good for you.”

“Take it slow.  The judge is chill.  Trust me, I was freaking out when I was walking in there, and they just smiled and said hey.  Asks you to play some scales.  Keep calm and you’ll do fine.”

“That might work for you, but I haven’t worked on this piece since November.”

“So that’s your problem.  That’s fine.  Where you stuck at?”  The next hour and a half flew by with Historia taking advice from the stranger, and it actually got easier to play through.  She almost felt confident when her turn to go in had arrived. 

“Historia Reiss,” a short blonde girl said emotionlessly, not even looking up from her papers.  Historia mutely followed the girl into the performance room, ready to have something hit her in the head and knock her out.  Then again, she’d be too lucky for that to happen. 

The judge was sitting on a raised platform with a can of coke in hand. 

“Well hi there, what’s your name?” the judge asked like this was a casual conversation that would cause no one any anxiety. 

“Historia Reiss.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Hange Zoë, and I’m the one in charge deciding how well you play.  So, play an F Sharp Major, then G Flat Major, and then A Flat Major.”

“But those first two are the same—”

“Good, you’re smart.  Go on, scales, two octaves.  Whenever you’re ready Miss Lenz.”  Unfortunately, the scales were the easiest part of the ordeal. 

The time she spent playing her solo felt like forever.  It felt like she was dying on the inside, waiting to just crumple on the ground.  She got lost several times in the music and found herself repeating the same thing over again.  She got lost several times in the music and found herself repeating the same thing over again.

Of course, when she finally finished, she was ready to cry again.

However she was not ready for the thunderous applause the Hange Zoë gave her. 

“My dear, you’ve done it!” the judge shouted from the platform.  “Annie, did you see that, she’s done it!”

“Yes, Mx. Zoë, she’s done it,” the girl replied monotonously. 

“Sorry,” Historia said, fidgeting with her mallets, “but what exactly have I done?”

“You played it, of course!  Nicely done.  The roughest part, I think, was transitioning from each section, but other than that, it was lovely!  Annie, show her to the door, will you?”  Annie nodded and pulled Historia out of the room by the arm.  Outside, leaning against the door, was the helpful girl that had essentially taught her the piece in a short amount of time. 

“How’d it go?”

“Poorly, I think, but the judge was creating a ruckus in celebration,” Historia replied.

“Same.  Told you they were chill.”

“I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Don’t think I dropped it, but it’s Ymir.  I mean, I’m Ymir.”

“Historia Reiss.”

“Nice name.  I can’t tell you your rank until Annie brings it out from Hange, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m the door holder, sweetheart.  I was listening at the door.” 

The boy after Historia had looked nervous when he went it, but when he left, he looked like he’d done a major accomplishment.  When she thought about it, Historia probably should have been proud that she had the nerve to go in with only an hour and a half’s preparation.  But instead she felt like all she’d get from the performance was a participation.

Annie handed Ymir a paper then went inside.  Ymir shut the door after the girl following Annie in.

“Alright Historia.  All I’m at liberty to do at this part is hand you this slip and tell you your ranking for the solo.  I mean, I could write my number on the slip of paper, but you’d have to turn it in, which would ruin the fact that I put my number on it.” 

“Are you trying to stall?”

“More like flirt, but whatever.  Anyways, sorry to tell you this, but…just kidding, you got a silver.  Told you you’d do fine.”  Ymir handed the slip to Historia, who was genuinely surprised to see the word ‘silver’ sloppily written underneath her name. 

“I got silver?”

“That’s what the paper says.  So like go down to the cafeteria and get your little badge.”  Historia felt a smile spread across her face.  She got silver.  That’s nowhere near as bad as participation.  She did okay.  She actually did okay.

“I will, but first, do you want to put your number in my phone?”

“Hell yeah, I do.  And put yourself in as a contact in mine.”

When Historia got to the cafeteria and exchanged her paper for a medal, her phone beeped loudly. 

**Do you want to go on day with me? -Ymir**

***fuck i meant date**

Historia smiled and typed back a simple, “That would be lovely.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the piece "Yellow After the Rain" by Mitchell Peters. It's a five page marimba solo, and trust me, relearning the whole piece in an hour and a half because you forgot about it sucks.


End file.
